Could this be the final week of labor talks? Things are looking good, and with free agency possibly just days away, the Monday edition of the Guru Daily features plenty of actual football talk… and some other stuff thanks to a Bengal RB.

Benson arrested … Free agent RB Cedric Benson was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge and released from jail Sunday in Austin, Texas. Full details, from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

According to an arrest affidavit, the former roommate was standing at a street corner in downtown Austin talking on his cell phone around 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning when a “hostile and aggressive” Benson approached him and said they had to talk about their problems.

The two began talking about their living arrangements when “all of a sudden he was struck on his face with a closed fist thrown by Benson,” according to the affidavit. Benson then struck him several more times, it said, resulting in injuries to the left side of the victim’s face.

It’s the second arrest of a Bengal player in the last week, as troubled CB Pacman Jones was arrested after an incident at a club. It’s also Benson’s second problem in the last two years in Austin [...]

Wednesday is yet another big day in labor talks as things heat up with players and owners once again in New York, and we also head to Denver, San Francisco, and Washington for some football talk.

Is a John Fox-DeAngelo Williams reunion on the horizon in Denver?

Fox wants a running back … One of the biggest offensive shifts in the league could come in Denver, where the wide-open passing attack of Josh McDaniels will give way to John Fox’s multi-RB approach. OC Mike McCoy is a holdover from the previous staff, but he has experience under Fox and will call the plays. Although the Broncos drafted Knowshon Moreno with the 12th overall pick just two years ago, Fox’s #1 priority is to bring in a free agent RB with Moreno potentially moving into more of a third-down role. It’s a move we agree with, because Moreno isn’t really equipped to be the centerpiece of an offense. He can put up decent production, but he’s limited with a lack of fluidity as a runner. Among the free agent RBs, the obvious name is DeAngelo Williams, who had a lot of success with Fox in Carolina, rushing for 1000 yards in back-to-back [...]

There is not a lot of groundbreaking football news, but as players continue to conduct workouts, we will gladly accept any football tidbits we can get. Today, the FG Daily takes you to Foxboro, Detroit, Tampa, Nashville, and more.

Brady organizes workouts… Patriot QB Tom Brady is back in the Boston area this week, so he figured he’d call up his teammates

Tom Brady had his fun, but now it's time to get back to work in Boston.

and organize a workout. ESPNBoston.com reports that Brady, who has been working out on his own in California after undergoing foot surgery in January, is back in Boston for some charity work. With charity work set for the weekend, Brady’s Patriot teammates have joined him, and several players are set for organized workouts today. We’re still waiting to see if the Patriots will add a bigger WR to the mix to replace Randy Moss, but one candidate remains deep threat Brandon Tate, who has had a limited role in two seasons. For now, the Patriot offense will continue to be difficult to predict, as Brady spreads the ball around between Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez, and Rob Gronkowski, and RBs Shane Vereen and [...]

The relationship between Jim Harbaugh and 49er QB Alex Smith is an interesting one. First and foremost, Smith is not even really a 49er. In a normal year, he’d be a free agent right now. But thanks to the lockout, Smith is operating as if he’s the 49er starter – and he might be come Week One, even though the Niners drafted Colin Kaepernick.

Alex Smith hosting 49er camps… This has been a strange off-season, and the relationship of Smith and new coach Jim Harbaugh is probably one of the strangest. Clearly, if Harbaugh had his druthers, as a former NFL QB he’d have handpicked the 49ers starting QB in 2011 by now. He did indeed draft rookie Colin Kaepernick, but Kaepernick is raw and is unlikely to be ready without the benefit of OTAs. So Smith, who does not have a contract with the 49ers, is actually running 49er off-season camps himself. He still has his playbook from Harbaugh and he has openly said he wants to return, and he’s putting himself in a good position to be the guy when the 49ers open the season. Once the lockout ends, Harbaugh will have a choice of Smith, Kaepernick, or another [...]

The NFL and its players are back together in mediation today, meaning we are returning to days of endless speculation and hoping that everyone actually comes to their senses. Courtroom football is back, and we know everyone must be thrilled.

Mediation is back! … After two days of meeting with the NFL and the players separately, everyone will be back under one roof today, under the supervision of Judge Arthur Boylan in Minneapolis. We can only hope that mediation is more thrilling this time around after weeks of reporters standing outside in Washington with little to show for it back in March. Judge Susan Nelson has insisted that decision-makers are present at the mediation sessions, so big guns such as Roger Goodell, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Steelers owner Art Rooney are there today. We likely won’t be getting many details from the sessions with the vow of silence, but we’ll keep hoping that progress is made. As for what to expect, the National Football Post’s Andrew Brandt points out that, ideally, the two sides use mediation as a lifeline before Nelson comes down with an unfavorable ruling against one of them. Of course, mediation has gotten us nowhere before, so [...]

Despite the labor situation, we have some off-season action right now as teams start to use their franchise tags. Three 2010-11 playoff teams have announced moves, including one of the most important QBs in the league.

Vick, Mankins, and Harris get franchise treatment … All three moves had been reported as pending before, but they’re now

As of now, Eagle QB Michael Vick will make about $20 million in 2011 thanks to the franchise tag, but things remain uncertain thanks to the labor dispute.

official: the Patriots have placed a franchise tag on G Logan Mankins, the Eagles did the same with QB Michael Vick, and the Jets did the same with LB David Harris. By being franchised, each player will make the average of the top 5 players at their respective position in 2011. That means about $10 million for Mankins, who made the Pro Bowl despite holding out the first seven games of the 2010 season. Vick will make about $20 million – a significant raise from $5.25 in 2010 – after taking the starting job from Kevin Kolb and emerging as the top fantasy player in the league by far (29.7 FPG). Harris will make about $10 million, and [...]

Three days after the Packers won the Super Bowl, it is starting to set in that the long football off-season is here. Still, there is news to cover unrelated to the labor issue, so we will dive into that as we still are dealing with the aftermath of the season, particularly in Pittsburgh.

After seeing his production decline in 2010, the 34-year-old Hines Ward faces two surgeries this week.

Ward, Sanders need surgery … Not only did the Steelers lose to the Packers in Super Bowl XLV, but veteran WR Hines Ward will undergo two surgeries this week, and rookie Emmanuel Sanders will also need surgery. Ward has cartilage damage in his left knee that he’s been dealing with since camp, and he also has a torn ligament in his left thumb that dates back to September. He wore a cast on the thumb all season. Meanwhile, Sanders broke his foot during the Super Bowl and will need that to be repaired. Ward saw a decline in his numbers this season, with the injuries complicating things, but he has said he plans to return in 2011 to a receiving corps that now revolves around the speedy Mike Wallace as its #1 [...]

About Matthew Camp

Camp has been a fantasy football player since 1997, when he remembers using the box scores from the New York Daily News.

Here are the top stories I’m following for Week 17 Cleveland (7-8) at Baltimore (9-6) Brown QB situation. Brian Hoyer (right shoulder/biceps) did not practice Friday. Rookie Connor Shaw is set to start for them at Baltimore. Do they give Terrance West any snaps to evaluate him? He played 0 snaps last week. Does Josh Gordon do anything to leave us something t […]

Here are the top stories that I will be following in Week 16 for fantasy. Philadelphia (9-5) at Washington (3-11) Robert Griffin III did play better last week, but does it mean anything? It’s hard to trust him even against a beatable secondary and a defense that lost a top pass rusher in Trent Cole. If you’re playing in Week 17, can you trust DeSean Jackson, […]

Here are the top stories I’ll be following in Week 15 with some insight on some of them. Pittsburgh (8-5) at Atlanta (5-8) Will Julio Jones play? It’s obviously a huge key for Matt Ryan’s ability to hang with the Steelers in a high-scoring game. Without Jones, they have no explosiveness in the passing game and Ryan will have to dink-and-dunk to Roddy White a […]